Lisa May '86 gets up each morning by 3:30 a.m. and heads off to work. And, she loves it. Well - she loves the job. She's the morning traffic reporter on the popular Kevin & Bean show on Southern California's KROQ radio station.
As is expected of morning drive-time entertainment, everything on the Kevin & Bean show is irreverent, and May, who's got the comedy chops to have taken the stage recently in the "Vagina Monologues," serves as the production's "straight man."
"I don't mind being called the straight man. I think I have my funny moments, but Kevin and Bean are definitely funnier," says May. "The atmosphere in the studio is as energetic as it sounds on the radio. We come in ready to go, and with this job you can't be one of those people who doesn't like to talk for the first two hours after you wake up."
Sometimes she has what she calls "homework," like watching the television show "Lost," which the DJs cuss and discuss quite a bit on the show. Keeping up with current events - both important and arcane - is necessary for her job, along with monitoring traffic, of course.
May, who earned a bachelor's in business administration in 1986, is actually employed by Metro Traffic. She had been reporting for KROQ and other stations from a remote studio for 13 years, and popped in and out of the Kevin & Bean show with her updates. A couple of years ago, KROQ wanted an in-studio reporter, and they thought May would be a good match. "We all went to lunch, and Kevin and Bean repeatedly asked me if I could take being teased. Endlessly teased. Mercilessly teased. I said I could, and we gave it try, and we've been working together ever since," she says. "The people I work with are very funny and smart and talented, and if I weren't sitting with them in the studio, I'd be listening to them on the radio."